Motion picture film reel



March 5, 1963 Filed May 19, 1960 I 3,080,129 s. HIRSCHLAND ETAL MOTIONPICTURE FILM REEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG] A TTORNEYS March 1963 R. s.HIRSCHLAND ETAL 3080129 MOTION PICTURE FILM REEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMay 19, 1960 INVENTOR.S RICHARD S.HIR$CHLAND ADRIAN A. COHEN BY STANLEYR. COHEN ATTORNEYS FIGS United States Patent Oflice 3,080,129 PatentedMar. 5, 1963 3,080,129 MDTION PICTURE FILM REEL Richard S. Hirschland,Closter, and Adrian A. Cohen and Stanley R. Cohen, New Milford, N.J.,assignors to George V. Clark Co., Inc., a corporation of New York FiledMay 19, 1960, Ser. No. 30,349 1 Claim. (Cl. 24271.8)

The present invention relates to motion picture film reels, moreparticularly of the type characterized by a pair of flanges having a hubbetween them, each flange including an outer peripheral riminterconnected with a base portion by a plurality of spokes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide motion picture filmreels of this type, in which improved flexibility is imparted to theflanges Without permanent deformation.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of motionpicture film reels of this type, in which the forces transmitted fromthe peripheral rims of the flanges through the spokes are applied to thecentral portions more evenly than heretofore, thereby to avoid undulyhigh concentrations of stress at particular points on the hub andcentral portions of the reel.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide motionpicture film reels of this type, which will be relatively simple andinexpensive to manufacture, easy and dependable to operate and ruggedand durable in use.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention Will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of a motion picture film reel according to thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is an edgewise view of the reel of FIG- URE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIGURE 1,showing the distinctive relationships of the structure of the presentinvention.

Stated very broadly, the present invention comprises the discovery thatthe distribution of stresses about the central portion of the reel ismore uniform if the spokes are disposed non-radially with respect to theaxis of the reel, and that improved flexibility without permanentdeformation is imparted to the flanges if the thinnest portion of thespokes is disposed more closely adjacent the hub than the rim.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, there is shown a motionpicture film reel which in its overall configuration may beconventional. Thus, it comprises a pair of flat sheet metal flanges 1 ofuniform thickness throughout, disposed in parallel spaced overlyingrelationship and carrying between them a hub 3 of cylindricalconfiguration. Each flange 1 comprises a circular outer peripheral rim 5and a central portion 7, rim 5 and portion 7 being interconnected by aplurality of integral spokes 9 extending therebetween, each pair ofadjacent spokes 9 being spaced apart by an opening 11, all the openings11 being of the same configuration. Central portion 7 is pierced by theusual holes 13 and has the usual non-circular driving hole 15 withinwhich the axis 17 of the reel is located. Hub 3 is comprised of a pairof semi-cylindrical strips 19 disposed in the form of a circle andsecured to flanges 1 at spaced points along their opposite edges bymeans of a plurality of spot welds 21. Of course, the assembly offlanges 1 and hub 3 could be secured together by any convenient methodother than welding, such as staking or riveting. The structure of thereel as described thus far is conventional and as such forms no part ofthe present invention.

The novelty of the present invention is as follows:

The spokes 9 are not disposed along radii of the reel,

but rather are inclined thereto at acute angles. Thus, the adjacent endsof openings 11 overlap each other radially outwardly of the reel.Considering the opening 11 which appears in part at the left of FIGURE3, it will be seen that the line 23, which is a radius of the reel,marks the extreme extent of that opening counter-clockwise, the reel asseen in FIGURE 3. Proceeding clockwise, the other extreme of the openingis marked by the radial line 25. Opening 11 touches line 23 at point 27,while the same opening 11 touches the line 25 at point 29. Point 27 isconsiderably nearer axis 17 than is point 29, point 29 in theillustrated embodiment being a little more than twice the distance ofpoint 27 from axis 17.

Considering the distance of point 27 from axis 17 to be the distance ofthe inner end of the openings 11 from the axis, an are 31 is struckclockwise from point 27 and are 33 is struck clockwise from point 29.When a line 35 is drawn radially from axis 17 to the inner end of theopening 11 which is at the right of FIGURE 3, this line corresponding toline 23 of the adjacent opening 11, it will be seen that are 31intersects this line at point 37 which is also the extremecounter-clockwise point of the right-hand opening 11 of FIGURE 3 andcorresponds to point 27. Considering point 37 to mark not only the endof the corresponding opening 11 but also the base of the correspondingspoke 9, it will be seen that the point on are 31 at the other side ofthe spoke, designated point 39, marks the other side of the base of thespoke. Correspondingly, the other end of are 33 from point 29 is markedby point 41, so that the spoke proper extends from are 33 between points29 and 41 to are 31 between points 37 and 39.

With the bounds of the spoke thus established, it will be seen that thespoke has two side edges 43 and 45. Edge -43 is the radially outer edgeof the spoke and edge 45 is the radially inner edge of the spokerelative to axis 17. It will also be noted that line 35 intersects edge43 at point 47, while line 25 intersects edge 45 at point 49, so thatedge 43 between points 29 and 47 precisely radially overlies edge 45between points 37 and 49. Stated another way, edge 43 between points 29and 47 inwardly bounds that portion of the end of the left opening 11 ofFIGURE 3 which precisely radially overlies that portion. of theright-hand opening 11 of FIGURE 3 which is outwardly bounded by edge 45between points 37 and 49.

The configuration of spoke '9 as a whole can thus be observed byconsideration of its midline 51, which is a further hypothetical lineextending between arcs 31 and 33 and designating the locus of themidpoints of all the arcs lying between :and concentric to arcs 3-1 and33. Thus, considering for example the boundary arcs 31 and 33, it willbe seen that the midpoint of are 31 is point 53, that is, the pointwhich is equal angular distances be tween points 37 and 39 relative toaxis 17, while point 55 at the other end of midline 51 is the pointangular-1y equidistant between points 29 and 41, so that a radius 57 ofthe reel passing through point 53 will b-isect the angle 371739, while aradius 59 of the reel passing through point 55 will bisect the angle29--1741. Midline 51 is arcuate but is not necessarily unicentric. Itscenter or centers of curvature are all displaced from axis 17 but he onthe same side of line 51 as does axis 17.

The other majorfeature of the present invention concerns the taper ofthe spokes such that their thinnest p-ontion, that is, their portion ofleast cross-sectional area, is substantially nearer base portion 7 thanrim 5. As the sheet material of spokes 9, and indeed of flanges 1 as awhole, is of uniform thickness throughout, the reduced cross-sectionalfeature of the spokes of the present invention is achieved in theillustrated embodiment by progressively decreasing the width of spokes 9from rim 5 most but not all of the way to centr-alportion' 7.' Of

course, it will be understoodthat the same result can be achieved byvarying the thickness rather than the width of the spoke.

In FIGURE 3, the cross-section of spoke 9 of least area is designated bya line 61. The significance of line 61 is that if spoke 9 were cutthrough on that line, the exposed cross-section would then be the leastcross-section that could be found along spoke 9. The midpoint of line 61by chance happens to lie on midline 51, as will happen when edges 43 and45 adjacent line 61 do not differ markedly from each other incontour;but this is not essential to the invention. The radius from axis 17which includes point 63 is shown by a line 65. In the illustratedembodiment, line 65 precisely overlies line 35; but this is notessential to the invention and is merely fortuitous. The ends of line 61at edges 43 land 45 are designated by points 67 and 69, respectively. Itwill be noted that points 67 and 69 are closer to'points 39 and 37,respectively, than they are to points 29 and 41, respectively, just asmidpoint 63 is substantially closer to midpoint 53 than to midpoint 55.It will also be noted that points 37 and 69 are substantially closer toeach other than are points 39 and 67, but that points 29 and 67 aresubstantially closer to each other than are points 41 and 69' Noticealso that the boundary of the left-hand opening 11 of FIGURE 3 betweenpoints 39 land 27, that is, along edge 43 beyond point 39, is asmoothcontinuation of the curve from 29 to 39. It should also be noted thateach opening 11 is bounded in effect by ttVVO large curves, the inner ofwhich extends between points 27 and 29 and the outer of which extendsfrom point 37 along edge 45 beyond point 41, and that both of thesecurves bow outwardly between thepoints and lines heretofore discussed,relative [to the central portion of the reel.

Spokes 9 are evenly, spaced apart about flanges 1, so that the angulardisplacement of the spokes from each other is equal to 360 divided bythe number of spokes. For four-spoke flanges, such as are shown, thisangle will be 90?; and hence, angle A of FIGURE 3, between lines 23 and35, is a right angle. The angle by which adjacent ends of openings 11radially overlap each other is also significant and is represented bythe angle B'between lines 25 and 35. According to the present invention,this angle is an acute angle and in the illustrated embodiment is about25 Another angle of significance is the mean anglesubtended by thespokes, that is, the angle subtended by mid-line 51 between boundaryarcs 31 and 33. In FIGURE 3, this-angle is designated asangle C, betweenlines 57wand 59, and in the illustrated embodiment is about 45. FinalIy,another significant angle is theangle, or complement of the angle,by.which line 61 deviates from orientation perpendicular toradial line65. For a spoke disposed precisely radially, as in the prior art, line61 would be precisely perpendicular to line 65, and the angle D betweenthese lines would be 90. According to the present invention, however,angle D is always an acute angle, that is, an angle less than 90, and inthe illustrated embodiment is about 45. This means that at line 61,which is the line of greatest flexure, the flexure of the spoke is notin a radial plane but in a plane displaced from any radius of the reel.It should also be noted that at all points along midline 51, thecorresponding radius of the reel forms the same acute angle with thetangent to midline 51 at that point. Tlhus, midline 51 progressivelyrecedes from axis 17.

The significance of-all these novel structural features andrelationships is as follows:

In general, the direction of the spokes away from thev axisof the reelassures that stresses applied in directions non-parallel to the plane ofthe flanges will be distributed more evenly about the huband baseportion of the reelthan if the spokes were radially disposed, that is,than if inidlineSl coincided with a radius of the reel. As, a refinementof this feature, the fact that spokes 9 extend arcuately outward ratherthan straight outward on an incline, that is, the fact that midline 51is arcuate in the manner shown rather than straight, throws even more ofthese nonparallel stresses to the side of the spokes away from axis 17,with the result that stresses that might tend to be applied, say, atpoint 53 are instead applied more toward point 39 and thus are carriedon about the periphery of central portion 7 toward point 27. In otherwords, the inclination of spoke 9, and more particularly the arcuateinclination of spoke 9, tends to spread out the forces applied to baseportion 7 toward the next spoke 9, or counter-clockwise according to theconfiguration of the spokes in FIGURE 3. Concomitant features by whichthis relationship may be expressed in terms of particular structure arethatthe end portions of openings 11 overlap each other with the endpoints 29' and 37 spaced distinctively different radial distances fromaxis 17, that edges 43 overlap each other at least between points 29 and47 and 37 and 49, that the marginal edges of openings 11 are outwardlybowed, that the angle C is acute and is greater than the angle B, andthat midline 51 subtends the radii of the reel over a substantial angleand is disposed at an acute angle to all the radii that intersect it.Thus, all these features coact to assure that the stresses are appliedby the spokes more evenly about the base portion and the hub of thereel, with the result that the flanges have less tendency to tear loosefrom the hub than in the prior art. This reduced tendency of the hub andflanges to separate from each other or for the reel to come apartadjacent its hub is useful not only in the illustrated reel but in avariety of other forms of reels, for its has been a problem common to agreat variety of reels that stresses applied out ofthe planes of theflanges tend to damage the reels adjacent the hubs.

The provision of the least cross-sectional area of the spokes moreclosely adjacent the hub from the rim assures that a given displacementof the rim from its normal plane can be accommodated with the leastbending of the flanges in such a manner as would permanently deformthem. The most bending occurs where it does the most goodin terms of rimdeflection, namely, at locations progressively farther from the rimtoward the hub. While each of these two features (spokes inclined, andspokes inwardly thinned) comprises a patentable feature of the presentinvention in and of itself, the coaction of these two features comprisesa third patentable feature of the invention. Specifically, theorientation of the spokes permits the increased fiexure feature to beuseful without imposing undue stresses on the base portion of theflanges. If the flanges were radially disposed and line 61 wereperpendicular both to the midline of the spoke and to the radius fromaxis 17 that bisected line 61, then increased flexure about line 61close to the hub according to the present invention would impose greaterstress on the hub and base portion of the reel closely adjacent thepoint corresponding to point 53 than if line 61 were farther out as inthe prior art. Thus, the increase in flexibility would be bought at theprice of tending to tear the flanges loose from the hub adjacent point53. But according to the present invention, means are provided fordispersing what would otherwise be this more concentrated stress, theselatter means comprising the spokes oriented as described above. Hence,it is a significant feature of the invention that the line 61 is ineffect turned away from confronting relationship with the axis of thereel, so that a line perpendicular to line 61 point 63 at no pointpasses close to axis 17; and this feature is significant not only in itsown right but also in combination with the feature of forming the spokesthinnest adjacent the hub.

From a consideration of the foregoing disclosure, it will be obviousthat all of the, initially recited objects of the present invention havebeen achieved.

It is to be understood that the appended claim is to be accorded a rangeof equivalents commensurate in scope with the advance over the priorart.

What is claimed is:

A motion picture film reel, comprising a pair of flanges of fiatresilient sheet material with a central hub between them, each flangehaving an outer peripheral rim supported by a plurality of spokes thatextend between and resiliently interconnect the hub and the flange, eachspoke being of uniform thickness and tapering from the rim toward thehub to a least width substantially closer to the hub than to the rim,said least width being inclined at an acute angle of about 45 to thatradius of the reel which bisects said least width, each spoke having amidline that intersects the radii of the reel over a substantial angleabout the reel and the spokes spiraling outward from the hub to the rimso that all paths from the rim to the hub are elongated thereby tominimize the curvature of the spokes when a portion of the rim isresiliently displaced from the plane of the remainder of its flange,said angularly inclined least width serving during such displacement todeflect the bending stresses imposed on the hub away from the axis ofthe hub and toward the periphery of the hub.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,125,803 Brandwood Jan. 19, 1915 1,298,287 Brandwood Mar. 25, 19192,068,053 Gehman Jan. 19, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 572,722 Great BritainOct. 19, 1945

